This invention relates to a device which can both wash and aspirate the wash water from a solid body member. More particularly, this invention relates to a combined hand washer and aspirator apparatus which is utilized in conjunction with a hepatitis detection apparatus and procedure.
In the process of conducting laboratory testing for diseases it is often necessary to wash and rinse off detection media with rinsing solutions and subsequently to remove the rinsing solution from a container into which a detection means and the media to be detected, such as a serum, is placed. There is not currently available a device which can conveniently function as both a washing and aspirating apparatus which can be handled in a convenient manner and can effect the washing and removal of the wash solution in a fast and efficient manner without spillage. The type of hepatitis detection procedure in which this apparatus is conveniently utilized is known as Ausria II-125 system which utilizes a solid phase radioimmunoassay technique to measure Hepatitis Associated Antigen (HAA) levels in serum. In this procedure, plastic beads are coated with guinea pig antibody which are supplied in a kit form. Patient serum is added and, during incubation, any antigen from this serum is fixed to the antibody. When antibody tagged with iodine-125 is added, it binds to any antigen on the bead creating an antibody-antigen-antibody "sandwich." This procedure is the subject of an article entitled "Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Antigen as Revealed by Direct Radioimmune Assay with 125 I-Antibody" appearing in The Journal of Immunology, Vol. 109, No. 4, October 1972, p. 834. When conducting the foregoing test it is necessary to evacuate the serum which is placed in a small well-like container of a tray which also contains the bead. Further, it is necessary that each well and bead be rinsed and that the procedure of rinsing and evacuation be repeated any given number of times.
It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a novel washer and aspirator which is easily manipulated and can efficiently wash and remove the wash solution from a container for a detection device; to provide a combined washer and aspirator device which can simultaneously wash and hold the solid body member out of contact from a container for the solid body; to provide a washer and aspirator device which can fit easily within the confines of a small well and can afford a rinsing technique without spattering or spillage; and to provide a washer and aspirator device which can be utilized in conjunction with readily available sources of vacuum and pumping mechanisms as well as being inexpensively produced.